HARRISBURG, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — The Pennsylvania Senate will be back in session on Monday, and Gov. Josh Shapiro is calling on Republican leaders in the state Senate to take up a pair of gun-safety bills that recently passed the State House.
Shapiro says, while gun-safety remains one of his priorities, there is a long history of inaction in the state legislature.
“I'll be candid with you: I've been pretty pessimistic in recent years that Harrisburg can come together and get this done,” the governor said.
“We've been debating in introducing gun violence prevention bills since I was a representative in the State House a decade and a half ago. Rarely did those bills even get a hearing, let alone a vote.”
But Shapiro says he has reason for optimism after two bills passed the Democratic-majority State House, largely on party lines. One would close a so-called “gun show loophole,” requiring background checks for private sales of long-guns, the other allows the temporary removal of fire-arms if someone is deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.
Republicans in the House argued the bills are a violation of the Second Amendment and they restrict freedom in Pennsylvania, but Shapiro takes issue with the Republicans’ idea of freedom.
“Let me tell you what real freedom looks like to me. It means having the freedom to walk down the street and not worry about getting shot in our communities. Real freedom means our kids can go to school and focus on science and math and English and not focus on shooter drills,” Shapiro said.
“Real freedom means a family getting up on a Sunday morning, putting on their finest clothes, walking down the street to church — worrying about what's in the hymnal, not worrying about a shooter coming in and attacking them in their pews. That's real freedom — the freedom to be safe and feel safe in our communities.”
The bills head to the Republican-controlled Senate, where Majority Leader Joe Pittman says Republicans are committed to school safety initiatives and enforcing the state’s “robust laws pertaining to guns.”
“Measures to increase safety and security is of chief importance to the Senate Republican Caucus. We remain steadfast in our ongoing support of law enforcement, leadership of school safety initiatives, and examination of ways to provide greater mental and behavioral health support to help protect our communities,” Pittman said in a statement released at week’s end. “Pennsylvania currently has robust laws in place pertaining to guns, which must be enforced in every corner of our commonwealth.”
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